JOURNAL INVESTIGATION
A decade later, Victoria Martens' case still has questions
Victim of grisly killing would have turned 20 on Sunday and prosecutors say a fourth suspect in the 2016 case has yet to be identified
Published
Modified
His name, for lack of an ID, is John Doe.
And there鈥檚 still a criminal indictment waiting for him in what was arguably Albuquerque鈥檚 most shocking murder of the past decade.
His arrest could unlock the mystery of who really killed Victoria Martens, the 10-year-old whose dismembered body was found burning in a Westside apartment bathtub on Aug. 24, 2016.
She would be 20 today, Aug. 23. She was killed on her birthday while her mother and her mother鈥檚 new boyfriend were out scoring drugs. The pair, and his cousin, were all convicted of child abuse resulting in Victoria鈥檚 strangulation death and the grisly, drug-fueled attempted cover-up.
But after years of investigation marked by lurid misinformation, evidence lapses and a false confession, there鈥檚 still no explanation for whose unidentified male DNA was found under Victoria鈥檚 fingernails and on her neck 鈥� not even with the latest advances in DNA testing and collection.
鈥淭here was more to the case than we were able to ever find out. And I don鈥檛 know that we鈥檒l ever find it out,鈥� said veteran defense attorney Gary Mitchell, who represented Victoria鈥檚 mother, Michelle Martens. She is now on probation after being released from prison last year.
鈥淚t鈥檚 one of those partially unsolved mysteries in New Mexico that we run into over the years.鈥�
The case remains open, and Albuquerque police are still receiving tips that so far haven鈥檛 panned out, Chief Deputy District Attorney Greer Staley said last week.
Staley hopes that, with continued public interest in the case 鈥� including podcasts and candlelight vigils 鈥� someone will come forward to identify John Doe.
鈥淢aybe even on her birthday,鈥� Staley added.
鈥淚 always want to stay hopeful,鈥� said Staley, a lead prosecutor on the case who keeps a photo of Victoria on her desk.
鈥淰ictoria was a true innocent victim,鈥� she said. 鈥淪he was a beautiful little girl with a bright future. She could have been anyone鈥檚 little girl 鈥︹��
鈥楢 virtual stranger鈥�
Victoria was a fourth-grader who loved the color purple, gymnastics, her church and swimming, according to a civil lawsuit filed by her maternal grandparents in 2017.
She was looking forward to a birthday party the day she died. But no one came to pick her up at the bus stop after school. A neighbor texted her mother that Victoria had walked home and was waiting outside the apartment, where Gonzales had invited Kelley to stay.
Michelle Martens and Fabian Gonzales, a convicted felon she met on a dating site, had trusted his cousin, Jessica Kelley, to pick up Victoria.
But Kelley, a violent drug addict who had just been released from prison after being convicted of conspiracy to commit criminal sexual penetration, never showed.
The prosecution鈥檚 timeline showed that Martens and Gonzales returned to the apartment about 5 p.m., where Victoria was waiting. They left again about 6:20 p.m. to pick up marijuana and methamphetamine.
Meanwhile, at 6:09 p.m., Kelley鈥檚 incarcerated sister, Crystal Kelley, called her from prison. During the call, Kelley said she was 鈥渢weaking鈥� and 鈥渉allucinating.鈥�
鈥淰ictoria was at home alone with a virtual stranger, Jessica Kelley,鈥� prosecutors stated in one court filing, blaming Gonzales, who also used methamphetamine, for placing the girl in danger and 鈥渢aking away her only protector by insisting that Michelle accompany him to get drugs from relatives while Victoria was killed.鈥�
Sometime between 7:05 and 8:48 p.m., Victoria was killed, according to witness interviews and phone records.
Kelley testified at Gonzales鈥� trial that 鈥渁 man she did not know鈥� entered the home, said he was looking for 鈥淔avo,鈥� Gonzales鈥� street name, went into Victoria鈥檚 room and strangled her. As he left, Kelley testified, the man blamed Gonzales for what had happened.
The next morning, at about 4:30, Albuquerque police responding to a 911 call found the gruesome aftermath.
According to prosecutors, Gonzales helped his cousin cut off Victoria鈥檚 arms and removed the girl鈥檚 heart and part of her liver. Police found the body parts in a trash bag in the apartment, along with two knives bearing Victoria鈥檚 blood.
While Martens was apparently asleep, the others cleaned up blood and other evidence and carried Victoria鈥檚 body into the bathtub.
Martens learned her daughter was dead sometime afterward, after Kelley, who was hallucinating, barged into the bedroom and threw an iron at her.
As Albuquerque police arrived, Kelley set fire to Victoria鈥檚 body, which had been wrapped in plastic and a sheet. Kelley fled by jumping from the balcony, breaking her ankle. She was arrested along with Martens and Gonzales.
Kelley told police as she was being led away from the scene 鈥渢hat there was another man there,鈥� Staley said last week. Later, at the hospital, Kelley questioned why she was being arrested, contending that three other people had been in the apartment.
False confession, lingering questions
The slaying made national headlines, prompted a candlelight vigil on Albuquerque鈥檚 Civic Plaza, and a memorial service at which then-Gov. Susana Martinez and state Attorney General Hector Balderas spoke before hundreds of people at a Northeast Heights church.
A tree at Mariposa Park, less than four miles from the crime scene, bears weathered decorations, toys, and tributes to her memory.
But despite the the immediate arrest of three suspects, the prosecution of the three defendants in the case took years and was far from easy, Staley said.
For starters, Martens initially gave Albuquerque police detectives a fantastical, lurid account of what happened, even incriminating herself. Much of it wasn鈥檛 true, Staley told the Journal.
For instance:
Victoria wasn鈥檛 drugged or given alcohol before her death, according to a series of toxicology reports.
Victoria wasn鈥檛 sexually assaulted before her death and didn鈥檛 have a preexisting sexually transmitted disease.
Her mother didn鈥檛 solicit men online to have sex with her daughter.
Neither her mother nor Gonzales was at the apartment when she was killed.
Just months after the slaying, Ra煤l Torrez, now state attorney general, won election to Bernalillo County district attorney. By the spring of 2018, he had recruited Staley, who re-examined the case with retired APD cold case detective Rich Lewis.
Staley said when she first inherited the case, "I thought this will be so straightforward, we have a confession, we have the people (who did it)鈥︹��
But the team found there had been delays in searches of the suspects鈥� cellphone information and in testing the DNA found on Victoria鈥檚 body.
鈥淭he misinformation sort of thrust us to where we had to backtrack and dissect the evidence again. The more we looked at it, the more we realized there was that fourth person,鈥� Staley said.
Initial police investigators were criticized for their method of interviewing Martens, but Staley said, 鈥淓verybody did the best they could do.鈥�
But it wasn鈥檛 until the spring of 2018 鈥� more than a year and a half after the slaying 鈥� that Torrez said he received cellphone information showing Martens and Gonzales weren鈥檛 at the apartment when Victoria was killed.
So in June 2018, Torrez announced the major twist in the case: His office dropped rape and murder charges against Martens and Gonzales. And, he added, authorities were looking for a fourth suspect.
The DNA testing in the case was only able to rule out any known male in Victoria鈥檚 life and any law enforcement who investigated the slaying.
The Y-STR DNA profile recovered from Victoria鈥檚 body also can鈥檛 be used to compare with other DNA samples collected from arrestees and convicts in the FBI鈥檚 national standardized database called CODIS (Combined DNA Index System).
Staley said the kind of outdoor video surveillance systems police check to solve crimes nowadays could have potentially provided information about who entered Martens鈥� apartment that evening.
鈥淚t鈥檚 hard to say whether today鈥檚 technology would have changed the outcome had it been available 10 years ago,鈥� Staley said. 鈥淲hat I can say with confidence is that, over the years, every responsible lead, avenue and investigative opportunity was pursued. We wanted answers for Victoria.鈥�
Defense attorney Mitchell said it 鈥渢ook a lot of courage鈥� for the prosecution to 鈥渄o the right thing.鈥�
鈥淚f I had to bring anything from this case, it was how naive my client (Martens) was, and she鈥檚 a kind person and within her mental capacity she did everything she could, but we don鈥檛 recognize that very well in this country, and we鈥檙e pretty unforgiving of people that don鈥檛 have the same abilities as the rest of us,鈥� Mitchell said.
Meanwhile, Fabian Gonzales, now 41, is now serving a 37-year prison sentence after being convicted by a jury in 2022 of reckless child abuse resulting in the death of a child under age 12 and multiple counts of tampering with evidence relating to the dismemberment.
During the sentencing, state District Judge Cindy Leos called Gonzales the 鈥渃onduit鈥� for the girl鈥檚 death. 鈥淚f not for Mr. Gonzales,鈥� Leos added, 鈥渢here is no question in my mind that Victoria Martens would still be alive.鈥�
Kelley, now 41, pleaded no contest in 2019 to six felony charges, including reckless child abuse resulting in death. She was sentenced in October 2022 to 44 years in prison, but with good time credits, is expected to be locked up for about 20 years.
Martens, 44, was released from prison last year after receiving good time credits off her 12-year-sentence. Now on probation, she didn鈥檛 return a Journal request for comment.
Meanwhile, a civil case brought by her parents, Pat and John Martens, against the city of Albuquerque is set for trial early next year. The lawsuit alleges the Albuquerque Police Department was negligent in failing to investigate a complaint that one of Martens鈥� prior boyfriends tried to kiss Victoria five months before her death.
The city denies any wrongdoing in court records, adding that such an investigation wouldn鈥檛 have prevented what happened the evening of Aug. 23, 2016.
Attorney Jason Bowles, who represents the couple, disagrees.
鈥淭he truth is that Victoria鈥檚 tragic death was preventable had APD just done its job,鈥� he told the Journal. 鈥淭he other disturbing truth is that there is a vicious murderer 鈥� who preyed on Victoria 鈥� still out there; he has never been caught or prosecuted. We will not stop until the full truth comes out.鈥�
Journal reporter Matthew Reisen contributed to this story.
Colleen Heild is an investigative reporter for the Journal. You can reach her at cheild@abqjournal.com.
